The fund empowers Latinx leaders, increases investments in Latinx organizations creating educational, civic and economic opportunities to enhance Latinx communities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties
Sept. 16, 2021, Mountain View, Calif. — Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) today announced $1.4 million in grants to 36 inaugural grantees of its LatinXCEL Fund—a $10 million, three-year initiative created to strengthen Silicon Valley's ecosystem of Latinx community leaders and nonprofits.
Recipients of the first round of funding include organizations that enrich and sustain the Latinx community by providing economic and entrepreneurial opportunities, promoting civic engagement and establishing art, culture, education and leadership development programs. A list of all grantees is available on SVCF's website.
Grants will bolster the recipients' organizational and leadership development, aid in capacity-building and infrastructure needs and provide unrestricted funding to support work that is advancing equity and social justice, such as policy advocacy and grassroots organizing.
"By investing in Latinx leaders and organizations in Silicon Valley, the LatinXCEL Fund will help advance civic, economic and leadership opportunities designed by and for Latinx communities," said Nicole Taylor, President and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "It is our hope that initiatives like the LatinXCEL Fund will motivate others to augment their investments in Silicon Valley's communities of color -- helping to create a just and equitable region for everyone."
The fund supports established and emerging Latinx-led and Latinx community-based organizations in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, prioritizing organizations focused on advancing racial equity and social justice whose overall leadership reflects the communities they serve.
One grantee is the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley (LCSV), a nonprofit, non-partisan organization providing Latinas with civic engagement and leadership development. Through initiatives like its Engaged Latina Leadership Activist (ELLA) program, LCSV addresses leadership development through a female and Latinx cultural lens and provides opportunities to learn about issues that disproportionately affect Latinas locally and statewide.
“This grant addresses one of the greatest needs in our region as we look toward an equitable COVID-19 recovery—the economic vitality, voice and leadership of Latinas,” said Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, Executive Director of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley. “The timing is particularly important, as Latinas were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The LatinXCEL Fund will enable us to increase our capacity, expand programming and advance our critical work in addressing the economic, gender and political disparity of Latinas in Silicon Valley.”
SVCF launched the LatinXCEL Fund in May 2021 in partnership with The Castellano Family Foundation as a way to unleash the Latinx community's civic and economic potential through targeted, long-term investments in Latinx-led nonprofits and leaders. To date, the LatinXCEL Fund has raised $2.3 million from local philanthropic institutions and individual donors including the Applied Materials Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, Castellano Family Foundation, Chavez Family Foundation, Google.org, David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Sobrato Philanthropies, Sunlight Giving and The California Endowment.
“We are deeply inspired by this first, incredible cohort of LatinXCEL Fund grantees and by all of the local partners who have come together to make this initiative possible,” said Sandy Herz, President of Sobrato Philanthropies. "There is immeasurable potential in our communities, if we are all willing to step up and reduce barriers to opportunity by investing together in the essential work of those most proximate to the challenges we seek to overcome.”
"We are delighted to support this effort and to help Silicon Valley Community Foundation accelerate the impact of organizations that are building opportunity, influence and power for our local Latinx communities," said Adrian Schurr, regional giving lead at Google.org. "The LatinXCEL Fund is one of the best ways for Google.org to support the leadership of Latinx nonprofits in the Bay Area."
Latinx communities account for nearly 20% of the U.S. population, according to the 2020 Census data, and the fastest-growing demographic group in California, and comprise Silicon Valleyʼs most significant group of color in all age categories under 35. Despite making up the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, studies show that Latinx nonprofits receive only about 1% of all philanthropic investment at a national level.
The LatinXCEL Fund addresses the recommendations and findings in the Castellano Family's Blueprint for Change—which called on Silicon Valley philanthropists to invest more time, effort and dollars to eliminate the structural barriers Latinx leaders and nonprofit organizations face. With this fund, Silicon Valley Community Foundation aims to reverse long-standing inequities by investing in people and organizations that address the infrastructure needs of nonprofits serving Latinx communities.
To learn more about the LatinXCEL Fund, visit: siliconvalleycf.org/latinxcel-fund
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About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a regional catalyst, connector and collaborator. We bring together the resources and skills of donors, business, government and community to solve some of our region’s toughest challenges. We promote philanthropy in our region and support philanthropists to invest with impact. Through advocacy, research, policy and grantmaking, we seek systemic solutions to drive enduring community change.
More than 1,800 individuals and families and over 60 companies partner with Silicon Valley Community Foundation using our donor advised fund (DAF) and corporate advised fund services. The minimum amount required to open a DAF at SVCF is only $5,000. More than a third of donor advised funds held at SVCF have balances of $25,000 or less. We encourage and advise donors to be active philanthropists andto give on a continual basis. Under our rigorous policy to discourage inactive funds, if after two years a donor has not recommended any grants from their DAF, SVCF will pool and distribute the funds through our Community Endowment Fund.
Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.